Second City

Stories From the Beat Lounge – Second City – June 4, 2018

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Judy’s Beat Lounge is the fourth different venue where I’ve seen storytelling. The emcee proclaimed how wonderful it was to see such a good crowd at their inaugural storytelling event (promoted to occur on a Monday once a month), as I looked around and saw about 35 people, including presenters, in a half empty room. There’s a place for her estimating crowd size in Washington DC.

A local comedian, Chris Trani, led off with a few short jokes about himself before launching into a story that left me wondering how good it might have been had he taken the time to work it out. I found an online video of him doing a standup routine that showed more promise.

Then a former professor opened by saying that she forgot to tell the emcee that all her stories are tragic. She must not have taught Shakespeare. Although her story was serious, no one died (which can nevertheless be funny, as exemplified by Chuckles Bites the Dust).

A self-proclaimed comedienne followed by playing two original musical compositions, one on guitar and one on keyboard, about a failed relationship she had. Her lament may or may not have been interesting, as she had a soft voice that made it hard to hear anything she was singing over the music.

The best story of the night wasn’t really a story, as a woman (whom the emcee described as her second mother) read a long list of one liners, musing about her hair, her aging neck, her therapist and her lust for Woody Allen. I think she would be a hit at Louder Than a Mom.

The last storyteller reflected on what he did and didn’t experience in1963, including mentioning that he didn’t see Jack Ruby kill Lee Harvey Oswald in living color. Well, neither did anyone else. The broadcast was in black and white.

Julia Sweeney, Older & Wider – Judy’s Beat Lounge – March 11, 2018

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We had dinner at Topo Gigio, where, fortunately, the service was a vast improvement (or we wouldn’t have made the show on time) over where I dined the night before, where we sat for an hour before the waiter brought the check, without having brought the food (picky, picky, picky), which reminded me of the Steve Martin short film, The Absent-Minded Waiter (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsh47iNVRkM).

Judy’s Beat Lounge is a casual 56-seat space at Second City, with general, unreserved seating. We got lucky with four seats together along the side wall, with no sight line issues, even after two of the people in our group were told at the door that their tickets were for a different, prior night (oops). Fortunately the box office was willing to sell them two more tickets (very generous).

Sweeney, who is most famously known for her androgynous character Pat, as a not-ready-for-prime-time player on Saturday Night Live, has been living somewhat under the radar in a northern suburb of Chicago for the last 10 years, apparently for the sole purpose of raising an adopted daughter who provides her with an endless source of material for her routine, including the two most memorable lines of the night – one about her daughter intentionally bringing an uncomfortable dinner conversation to an abrupt end by announcing that she was experiencing a heavy flow and the other about how Sweeney’s husband started calling their daughter’s boy friend Rolf (as in The Sound of Music) in response to information about his politics.

The show is billed as a stand-up work in progress, but, except for Sweeney’s occasional glances at her notes when changing topics and occasional comments about whether a bit had worked or not, it seems ready for prime time to me.

Storytelling Class – Second City

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My search for new activities after retiring led me to try the hottest thing around town, storytelling (the Moth has been around for 20 years but it seems like there has been a noticeable growth spurt in the last few years, at least to me, with numerous locations hosting monthly events).

It was a natural choice for me, as I am an excellent, though infrequent liar, using my skill not to deceive, but to amuse (honest). Hyperbole, sarcasm, and parody, if you will.  As I learned quickly in my storytelling class at Second City in early 2017, however, the stories are supposed to be true. This limitation means that not only do you have to pay attention to what is going on around you, but also that you have to remember it (a young person’s game). As much as that sounded like work, I forged ahead, laboriously dredging up memories thought to be lost in the undefined depths of my mind (unlike legal writing, storytelling thrives on adjectives and adverbs, long underused, but welcome accessories in my vocabulary).

The class was excellent and it returned to me the joy of creating a story and standing in front of an audience, small as it might be, for whatever appreciation I might get, small as it might be. For years I’ve had two relaxation stones, given to me by a friend, one engraved with the word create, and the other with the word laugh. That sums it up for me.

During the run of the class I went to a storytelling event, my first, at Steppenwolf Theater. I found a number of the stories depressing (mine will attempt to be humorous), but seeing experienced storytellers do their thing was useful.

Since then I’ve gone twice to Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro to see more stories, including one by a friend with whom I took my class. Inspired by his performance, I’ve signed up to tell one of my own, which probably won’t be until the fall. In the meantime, I’m telling short stories on this blog. Stay tuned.